The Colas c24.16

c24.16

That Kōpperuñjinga had come of age and was already prominent among the Kāḍava chieftains, and that these chieftains still acknowledged the overlordship of the Cōḷa, at least in name, may be inferred from an inscription²⁶ found in Vṛddhācalam, dated in the 14th year of Rājarāja (A.D. 1230) and recording an endowment by one of the *agambaḍi mudalis* of Kōpperuñjinga. The Tiruvēndipuram inscription opens with a statement of the facts mentioned in the *Gadyakarṇāmṛta*, adding piquancy to the reports of Kōpperuñjinga's misdeeds that reached Narasimha; for here he is said not only to have imprisoned the Cōḷa emperor (*śōḷa-cakravarti*) at Sēndamangalam, but to have employed his troops to devastate the Cōḷa country and desecrate its temples including Viṣṇusthānas—the Hoysalas were staunch Vaiṣṇavas. Narasimha left Dōrasamudra, continues the inscription, saying that he would not allow his trumpet (*kāḷam*) to be blown until after he had re-established his name as the Defender of the Cōḷa monarchy (*Cōḷa-maṇḍalapratiṣṭhācārya*); he uprooted the Magara kingdom,²⁷ doubtless an ally of the Pāṇḍya and Kāḍava, on his way, and encamped at Pāccūr, two miles to the north of the Coleroon opposite Śrīraṅgam. From his camp, Narasimha despatched two *daṇḍanāyakas*, Appaṇṇa and Samudra Goppayya, with orders to carry destruction into the country of Kōpperuñjiṅga and re-instal the Cōḷa emperor in his place. Accordingly, the two commanders sacked Eḷḷēri and Kalliyūr-mūlai held by Kōpperuñjiṅga, and Toḷudagaiyūr held by Śōḷa-kōn, evidently one of his lieutenants, killed some of the mudalis of the king (Rājarāja) and Parākramabāhu, the king of Ceylon, who had joined the enemy, and, after worshipping the God of Cidambaram, they devastated many places such as Toṇḍamānallūr, Tiruvadi and Tiruvakkarai, to the south of the river Vāraṇavāsi (Gaḍilam) and east of Śēndamaṅgalam, and struck terror into the hearts of the inhabitants by burning crops,²⁸ capturing women and plundering people; finally they made preparations to invest Śēndamaṅgalam, when Kōpperuñjiṅga sent word to Narasimha that he was ready to restore the Cōḷa emperor to liberty and his throne, and Narasimha transmitted the offer to his commanders. Then they received the Cōḷa emperor with honour and accompanied him back to his country.